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Althea Brimcraft
Major Althea Charmine Brimcraft is a shadowmage and a voidmancer in the Argent Onslaught, and the current head of magical affairs. She is most notable for her work as a researcher and an author on the safe and ethical use of shadowmancy, fel magic, and demonology. She is also notable for her previous affiliation with House Brimcraft. Description Althea does not, at a first glance, seem like a very outstanding woman. In many ways, she could be filed under a "typical Gilnean" as far as her aesthetic goes, with a few notable exceptions. First, she stands somewhat shorter than the average woman at five feet and four inches. This shortness is exacerbated by a much more blatant difference, her body type. She appears skinny - not underweight, but certainly heading in that direction - and she has very few curves of which to speak, somewhat bottom-heavy but only in comparison to a near-androgynous chest. This frame is generally concealed from head-to-toe in robes. A closer look at these robes betrays much about her chosen craft. The purple robes are clearly of Highborne make, showing off the elven love of gold and silver as golden spellthread is stitched into the mageweave in intricate patterns, lined at the edges with accents of silvery grey. This results in the faintest hint of some sort of arcane enchantment. However, there is a much more prominent presence about these robes, one that seems to seep into each stitching: the void of the Shadowmoon orcs, a relatively-recent addition. The crest of these robes is hidden with a well-kept tabard of the Argent Onslaught. While she generally prefers to conceal her facial features within a matching violet-and-gold hood, there are a few prominent aspects of her face that can be seen if and when the hood drapes down. First, she has two dull-green eyes that are crowned with bushy, dark eyebrows at the top and the dark circles of fatigue at the bottom, both of which stand out prominently against pale skin. Her nose is somewhat larger, and her cheekbones are relatively prominent. On the other hand, her lips are thinned, the color having worn over time. However, none of these features overpower the other. She keeps her hair cut short and controlled, the near pitch-black hue never draping further than the nape of her neck nor the lowest point of her earlobes. However, she does allow a bit of the fringe to grow out, giving her bangs that drape down until just a pinch over her eyebrows. She is often found, while in combat, using her hood to keep these bangs out of her eyes or running gloved, ring-clad fingers through them. She seems to carry herself with an air that, from solely beholding her physical appearance, would seem somewhat out-of-place. She is rather confident, clearly, as she stands straight with square shoulders and a stare that looks directly at its subject. Her voice, while somewhat soft at a conversational level, holds with it both the high vocabulary and notable accent of a Gilnean aristocrat with the love of cursing of a sailor-mouthed commoner. She speaks firmly and clearly; if she ever halts her sentence to second-guess her wording, there is clearly something wrong. Finally, her initial air of mediocrity is shattered if the observer is a paladin, priest, or otherwise capable of detecting magical auras. Althea is a shadowmage who employs the shadows of a local area for her benefit. As such, shadow magic seems to bend around the woman's form, following her movements in its slated invisibility. It seems to focus around three areas of her body, not-so-coincidentally the areas where her weapons are stashed. First, and most prominently, the sword at her hip forged by Commander Alerey McOwen is a masterpiece of swordsmanship, light and engraved with inert runes to act as a sufficient spellblade for the woman and emblazoned with the sigil of Gilneas. It is stashed in a black leather sheath, and it is named "Gayatri," after one of Althea's earliest mentors. Second, she keeps a staff of an elementium alloy and a tip of Shadowspirit Diamond - lightly tainted violet from long-term use as a conduit - strapped upon her back. Finally, in a pocket on the underside of her right hip, there is a dagger forged in felsteel and emblazoned with the Eredun runic inscription: "With this blade, I protect myself." Overall, such a paltry from of the woman seems to demand a certain level of respect. She wears her altruism on her sleeve just as much as her pride. She may work so diligently with the shadows, but she refuses to live in them. History Childhood Althea Charmine Brimcraft was born on 30 December -2 L.C. (or 1111 F.A.) to William and Edna Brimcraft in the outskirts of Gilneas City, the capital of the kingdom of Gilneas. She was the youngest of two children. Her brother, Jacob, was her elder by two years. She would live out her entire childhood in Brimcraft Manor, the home and headquarters of House Brimcraft, which was a minor nobility house associated with an arms and artillery company of the same name. Althea was brought up by a wet nurse as well as the maid staff; the variation in both of these positions gave her very few notable, constant figures in her early childhood. However, when House Brimcraft’s affiliation with the Dalaranian noble House Rigalon made the testing of Althea for arcane aptitude a prerequisite for a future arranged marriage, the girl’s life was given a purpose as she scored in the ninetieth percentile for her age group. She was enrolled in a prestigious Gilnean school of arcane magic, where she would attend school from age five to her early graduation at age sixteen. The Walled Years When Althea was nine years old, the Greymane Wall, supported in part by funds from House Brimcraft, began to be erected. In this process,the borders of Gilneas were closed, cutting off the flow of knowledge and ideas into Gilneas. Althea understood this immediately; within her school, which was generally focused on the Dalaranian customs of understanding magic, there was a sudden shift to Gilnean ideas. This frustrated Althea greatly, and she developed a magic-based curiosity that would lead her to making one of her more pivotal decisions. Despite the sheltering nature imposed by her upbringing, Althea soon took to the streets of Gilneas in pursuit of contraband from Dalaran. One day, at the age of eleven, the young “arcanist” felt a strange presence of magic coming from an alleyway deep within the slums of Gilneas City. As she neared a door, the presence became clearly dark, and she recognized it as a mix of shadow and fel magic. She heeded the warnings often repeated by her instructors to steer clear of such magics, and she turned around. However, she did not stay turned around for long. Six months later, after her twelfth birthday, Althea returned to the alleyway, and she heard chants and spells in a foreign tongue – later learned to be Eredun. It was on this day that she had her first of many lessons in shadowmancy from who was to become a long-term mentor, Gayatri Reddy, and she would continue to visit the coven of Gilneas as she traveled down her path. Young Adulthood After her graduation from school, Althea sought to attend a university in Gilneas City, but this was denied by her parents, who sought to groom her for an arranged marriage to one of the Dalaranian nobles should the wall ever come down. This created a strong rift between her and her parents. As such, she left Brimcraft Manor when she was age eighteen, settling down in a relatively-small house in the city. From here, Althea provided small classes in arcane magic while still learning shadowmancy from the coven. Her end goal was to raise enough gold to send herself to the university. She soon found that her ability in arcane was traded off for her shadowmancy, and she chose the latter. Her primary source of income, therefore, was soon difficult as she was becoming worse at arcane magic. As such, at the age of twenty-two, Althea enlisted in the Gilnean army, learning sharpshooting and using it exclusively to hide her shadowmancy. Fall of Gilneas During the Northgate Rebellion, Althea resigned from the Gilnean military, finding herself incapable of fighting a battle for Greymane to which she was ideologically opposed. She agreed with Crowley in that the Wall should be let down, her curiosity nowhere near sated even by immersing herself in shadowmancy. She subjugated her first voidwalker at this time: Azzamus. It was in this time period that she devoted most of her time within the coven, increasing the risk that she would be caught. And, indeed, she was: She was forced to kill Azzamus, and she faced a 100,000 gold fine. She did not pay this fine on time, and it increased steadily until only recently. As she was not killed or imprisoned, it was clear that the stress on the kingdom, her noble status, and her previous military service played a large part in her slap-on-the-wrist punishment. However, she was undeterred, finding herself capable of living off of the money provided to her by sympathetic, venerable parents who were proud of her previous service to her country. She remained in the coven, growing more and more competent. It was here where she learned to speak some Eredun and she could transcribe runes. She also learned the complex art of shadowflame, and she managed to subjugate another voidwalker, her current one: Daximotos. When the worgen curse broke out, Althea was quick to join the militias, where she was given a small post of command due to her previous combat experience. She was a minor tactician, and she managed to acquire a few military successes before her regiment was overwhelmed. She, too, was overwhelmed: On the field, somewhat later in the fall of Gilneas, she had been forced to throw her rifle away and rely on her magic. However, not even this was enough to stop from being bitten in the crook of her left arm. Due to her status and her late biting, she was treated relatively easily, and she has a wide range of control over her worgen form. However, her affliction left her rather distraught at first. She lent her spells, now regarded as a necessary evil by the surviving Gilneans, to the war effort against the Forsaken. However, with her coven destroyed, her house burned down, and her ties with House Brimcraft all but severed by her curse, she retreated to Darnassus as soon as the opportunity was given. Interim Years Althea stayed only two months in Darnassus before realizing that there was very little of a place for a shadowmage in the natural city of the Kaldorei. For opportunity, she moved into Stormwind City, where she quickly found Gilnean warlock contacts who led her into the Stormwind coven. She became very well-known for her pamphlets discouraging the practice of fel magic and encouraging safe use of magic. She also frequented the libraries of the Mage Quarter, reading on a variety of subjects as she always enjoyed to do: She learned Darnassian, and she educated herself heavily on the history of areas beyond Gilneas. With the walls of her life shattered, her curiosity was boundless. However, it would take only two years for the woman to become dissatisfied with life in Stormwind. There were only so many books to digest and only so many talented shadowmages in the city. Above all of those, though, she felt as if she could do better with her life. She sought very strongly to make a lasting difference. As such, Althea enlisted with the Argent Crusade, and she is now a member of the Argent Onslaught. Argent Years Althea has been in the Argents for over a year and a half, and she has risen the ranks from recruit to major. She is now the divisional leader of the Department of Magical Affairs. During this time, even though her life is in a constant state of peril, she is exponentially happier: She has met most of her closest friends, her fiancé, and numerous sources of new knowledge from her time in the Onslaught. She currently resides officially in Hearthglen, though she lives in Stormwind City with her husband, whom she met as an Argent. Personality Althea values two things above all else: knowledge (and the resulting power) and autonomy. As such, her curiosity and her drive are two massive components of her personality. With respect to her curiosity, she has an exceptional work ethic, and she will literally force herself through exhaustion and hunger to work until her job is done. She spends the majority of her free time studying, researching, or testing out new spells. She is incredibly responsible when given a task for the Onslaught. However, her curiosity has also led her to make reckless, brash choices, often putting her life in danger and literally shortening her life in order to obtain more magical potency. Her drive lends itself to how she interacts with herself as well as others. While it also plays a massive role in her work ethic, her drive is what causes her to almost crave work, becoming quickly bored in menial situations. Amongst others, her drive causes her to come off as motivated and confident yet abrasive and hot-headed. She has also been known to be somewhat awkward in social situations, flustering easily and stumbling on words when she perceives this awkwardness. She is somewhat introverted, and thus she rarely spends much of her time at parties. She seems to be horrible at small talk, often causing her to come off as aloof or cold. Lastly, she is rather to-the-point. One of her pet peeves is the tendency for someone to not finish their statement; she wants the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and she wants it fairly immediately. She rarely tells white lies; when she does, it is solely self-serving. To some, this comes off as “tough love,” while others find her intimidating for this reason. She is known for scaring recruits. Abilities As a shadowmage, Althea is most well-known for her prowess with shadow magic. Specifically, she draws her power from the shadows in a local area, which are always present (save for in specific circumstances - such as in a cup of holy water). Shadow magic is both an arcane and a divine magic: since she draws her power generally from local sources rather than summoning or calling it as one would the Light, Althea focuses on the former. Althea prides herself on the versatility of shadow magic. She is capable of a number of different spells, including offense, defense, wards, runes (almost exclusively Eredun), very limited demonology (only her voidwalker), and short-range teleportation. However, as shadow is primarily a destructive force antithetical to the healing of the Light, Althea's strongest spells are offensive in nature. Notably, Althea is fairly proficient in shadowflame. While this school of magic is new for humans, and particularly for Gilneans, Althea has spent a considerable amount of time researching ways to perfect it. While it is a high-cost gamble for her, as it costs quite a bit of mana, even when channeled through a weapon or rune, its destructive capability is great. After learning about the school when the Argent Onslaught was stranded in Shadowmoon Valley, Althea has become a practitioner in void magic. Like shadowflame, it is incredibly draining on her, and she cannot cast but so many void spells at once. Additionally, she must rely on shadows as a precursor to void as of so far, so she is not capable of summoning "pure" void magic. Despite these drawbacks, her void spells are particularly destructive, especially when paired with her voidwalker. Daximotos has been Althea's companion - without his consent - since before the Wall came down. He is mostly a "meat shield" for Althea, parts of his body even being used to power some of her spells when she needs them. Althea hates all demons, and Daximotos is no exception. As such, the dynamic between these two is generally negative, but, as Daximotos cannot speak, he simply accepts his fate. Philosophy Light and Shadow Much can be explained with chiaroscuro: The brightest light casts the largest shadow. Similarly, when one tries to stand in between the light and its inevitable byproduct, the shadow becomes even greater. As such, I revel not in the absense of the Light but in its strongest form. Althea believes that the Holy Light cannot exist without an equal and opposite counterpart in shadow. As such, when she actively engages in shadowmancy and even voidmancy (as a counterpart to the light of the Naaru), she views herself as a practitioner of a legitimate school that should be seen as, just as it is in reality, an equal and opposite counterpart to the Church of the Holy Light. She holds a strong faith in the Light as well as in shadow (which she will often refer to as "The Shadow" as a counterpart to "The Light"). This belief has, naturally, resulted in quite a few confrontations with pious paladins and vindicators, some of which have resulted in injury. Demons With no exceptions, not even her own voidwalker, Althea hates demons. She views them all as inherently evil, a source of power that should be harnessed but never set free. She has plans to kill Daximotos before her death, knowing the voidwalker's true name and keeping elaborate plans so, in the event of a premature death, she is able to ensure that he goes down with her. Althea is especially not fond of imps, as she has regarded them as "The worst kind of evil - deadly and annoying." Fel Magic Althea once held lenient beliefs on the use of fel magic, often using small components of it herself to amplify the power she held over her voidwalker. However, she has grown distrustful of it, and she now keeps very strict checks on any member of the Argent Onslaught who chooses to dabble. She is disgusted by its presence, and she often finds herself in need of a bath after coming in contact with it when her job mandates to do so. Trivia * Althea's favorite color is red, as opposed to the popular belief that it is purple. * She is fluent in Common with advanced proficiency in Gutterspeak, Eredun, and Darnassian. * Despite being a shadowcaster with blatantly-heretical beliefs, Althea was recruited into the Argent Crusade by an inquisitor. * She has read, and enjoyed, both Fifty Layers of Shadow ''and its sequel, ''Fifty Layers Darker. Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Gilnean Category:Worgen Category:Argent Crusade Category:Warlocks Category:House of Brimcraft Category:Argent Onslaught Category:Authors